The other day I was walking my dog, listening to Greg McKeown’s Essentialist podcast where he was interviewing Cal Newport on the subject of deep work and avoiding online distractions to maximize productivity. Mid-walk, while still listening to the podcast, I impulsively pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked Twitter.

For no particular reason. Just muscle memory.

When you are listening to two of the foremost experts in leading distraction-free lives, and you can’t go distraction free while listening to that interview, something in your life clearly needs adjusting.

Obviously, setting limits on social media activity is a huge part of that, something I talked about in my last post. Setting (and respecting) app time limits on my phone is a huge help.

There are three things that have helped me with improving my focus. I’m far from perfect but in the last couple of weeks this has helped a lot.

Forest App

This cost about a dollar in the app store but the ROI is solid. The mobile app + Chrome extension helps me block out distractions and plants virtual forests for every distraction-free session you have.

I know it sounds super corny but it admittedly works. It gamifies the distraction game a bit.

For example, I can set a 30 minute timer on the mobile app and it begins growing a tree or shrub. I can’t open up any other app on my phone or do other activities without clicking a button that says “give up?”. That level of shaming is subtle but effective.

On the Chrome extension, I can set a blocklist on certain sites (Facebook, Tweetdeck, Instagram, Reddit, Amazon, etc) with a similar timer. If I go to one of those sites, the timer will pop up and ask if I give up. The shaming works. It also heightens your awareness on how many times your fingers instinctively start typing in web addresses when you either hit a micro-moment of boredom or start to work on a task you’ve been putting off.

The cool thing is that my focus time syncs between Chrome and the mobile app. On mobile, I can integrate the Forest activity with my Apple Health data and log it as mindfulness minutes of my day.

The mobile app is great for more than just getting work done. The last couple of days, I’ve set the app timer for when the kids get home from daycare. That way, I’m growing my forest not by just how much work I’m getting done but by how many distraction-free minutes I’m giving to the kids too.

You can check out the Forest app here for yourself.

Take Small, Frequent Breaks

This isn’t a breakthrough discovery. It’s a productivity hack that lots of people prescribe to. Quite frankly, it helped me excel in college with ADD.

It’s really helpful to step away from your computer to do something non-work related. Working at home has been a great conduit for that. If I’m mentally tapped out, I can get up and go walk the dog, mow the yard really quickly, fold some laundry or just walk down the street to my favorite coffee shop for a bit of fresh air.

The important thing to note is that the short breaks should not be driven by screens. Otherwise, it’s hard to get out of that break and re-focused back onto whatever you need to work on.

Get Moving

Just getting out and moving around has helped tremendously. My wife and I alternate mornings going running, which I know helps us both a lot with getting focused for work. Also, if you’re able, take calls while walking around. Not all calls require you to sit behind a screen.

For example, I take several calls while walking the dog (weather permitting). Walking and talking, at least for me, helps me stay more on task and pay attention. If I sit still and try to listen…I can. It just takes considerably more effort.

Plus, once I’m done with that call, I feel more refreshed when I sit back down behind my computer. It’s easier to focus.

Plus, getting the extra steps outside is a healthy habit!

Focus is a competitive advantage

With the pandemic, the reality show that is modern day politics and 2020 being 2020, it’s easy to find distractions. It’s fun TBH. But it’s wearing on our mental health. It’s hurting our productivity. It’s feeding an addiction we all have.

I think building that muscle to eliminate distractions will be a huge competitive advantage in future years. We have a ripe opportunity, even if it isn’t totally by choice, to improve that part of ourselves. Like I said, I am FAR from perfect here but am working to get better every day.

How do you stay focused in a time where we’re in peak distraction?